Beatboxing specialist, performer, and producer Luke "Skippy" Harbur is a vivacious artist known for his cross-pollinated brand of alternative music mixing hip hop, Broadway, EDM, and singer-songwriter influences. His project musicbyskippy connects multigenerational audiences through different show experiences, living among music, theater, and poetry to combat isolation and celebrate identity. Attend live comedy or musicals, and you get the idea.

Since 2021 he’s produced over 40 songs and sold over 1,000 tickets to 8 original shows. He also hosts lectures about his arts business failures and successes, sharing artist income strategies to fight gatekeeping culture and foster community building.

My name is Luke “Skippy” Harbur, and musicbyskippy lives among music, spoken word, and theater for multi-generational audiences. I’m a singer/songwriter, beatboxing specialist, and performer based out of Kansas City, Missouri. Since November of 2021, I’ve grown my discography to more than 40 original alternative tunes, and lyrics come from personal stories. My art prioritizes collaboration and variety, reflecting humanity’s fragility and vulnerability.

My drive comes from identifying as a 28-year-old liver transplant recipient. Each moment, life is a second chance. I offer a hand to anyone ready for genuinity and wish to be part of bigger, critical conversations.

Cornell University (2024) | Ithaca, New York

Mid-America Arts Alliance (2024) | Kansas City, Missouri

Fellowship, No Divide KC + Lyric Opera of Kansas City (2024) | Kansas City, Missouri

Fellowship, Heartland Arts KC + Starlight Theatre (2024) | Kansas City, Missouri

Total 2023 bookings: 56

Boulevardia Music Festival (2022 & 2023) | Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City Repertory Theater (2023) | Kansas City, Missouri

Music Theater Heritage (2022 & 2023) | Kansas City, Missouri

Lyric Opera of Kansas City (2023) | Kansas City, Missouri

Minnesota Fringe (2023) | Minneapolis, Minnesota

Kansas City Art Institute (2023) | Kansas City, Missouri

University of Kansas (2023) | Lawrence, Kansas

KC Fringe (2023) | Kansas City, Missouri

Rubulad (2023) | New York City, New York

Community School of Music and Arts (2023) | Ithaca, New York

Total 2022 bookings: 43

Quixotic (2019, 2020, 2021, & 2022) | Kansas City, Missouri

No Divide KC (2021 & 2022) | Kansas City, Missouri

Blue Valley High School (2022) | Overland Park, Kansas

Brookridge Day School (2022 & 2023) | Overland Park, Kansas

Velo Garage & Tap House / The Record Machine (2022) | North Kansas City, Missouri

PH Coffee (2022) | Kansas City, Missouri

Fountain Haus (2021 & 2022) | Kansas City, Missouri

Missie B’s (2021, 2022, & 2023) | Kansas City, Missouri

The Black Box KC (2021 & 2022) | Kansas City, Missouri

Cafe Cà Phê (2021) | Kansas City, Missouri & North Kansas City, Missouri

Jukeboxx Media, gig for T-Mobile (2021) | Kansas City, Missouri

Fishtank Theatre (2021) | Kansas City, Missouri

Jesse Powers (Beat of Your Drum, 2021) | Kansas City, Missouri

Calvin Arsenia (Little Drummer Boy, 2019) | Kansas City, Missouri

“Singer, beatboxer, actor, and the best question-asker for sure, Skippy is one Kansas City should rally behind now as I can see him definitely earning national recognition for his work. Especially if he were to dive deeper into producing one-person shows.”

Logan Stacer, Artistic Director of Heartland Arts KC

“Skippy brings a powerful energy as a musician and performer that is distinctly unique in its velocity and focus. He is ferocious in his commitment to sincere storytelling and channels his musicality into high octane performances that are gripping and palpable. Skippy is the truest form of showman- matching his athletic approach to performance with a warmth of character that makes every audience member feel seen. As the Executive Director of an organization rooted in inclusivity, Skippy is at the top of the list when planning our events."

Stacy Busch, Executive Director of No Divide KC

“Skippy’s authentic energy and charming personality shines thru when he steps on stage and he brings the audience along into his world. His beatboxing skills are insane! I’m always very impressed and love what he does during his performances as well as off stage.“

Shane Borth, Music Director at Quixotic

“Skippy brought so much joy and excitement to Brookridge Day School! He performed for our 2.5 year olds all the way up to 3rd grade and was able to meet every age group at their level for such FUN performances. If you’re looking for someone to teach, inspire, and entertain your youth, look no further! His energy, talent, and passion made for an amazing experience!”

Lindsay Shupe, Activities Director of Brookridge Day School

“Skippy is an absolute joy to work with, both onstage and backstage. He is not only a talented musician, but also knows how to get the crowd hyped, and up and on their feet! One of my absolute faves to book in my productions!”

Annie Cherry, Show Producer at Missie B’s

Beatboxing specialist, performer, and producer Luke "Skippy" Harbur is a vivacious artist known for his cross-pollinated brand of alternative music touching on hip hop, Broadway, EDM, and singer-songwriter influences. His project musicbyskippy lives among music, theater, and poetry; shows are similar to attending live comedy and musicals, focusing on identity and community building. They are different live experiences all built for multigenerational audiences.

The Overland Park, Kansas native is based out of Kansas City, Missouri, developing songwriting, beatboxing, singing, beat production, rapping, & looping skills to express his mission: performances promote safe havens for authenticity. Since November 2021 he’s written, produced, and published over 40 songs and sold over 1,000 tickets to eight original productions. He is a 2024 Librettist Fellow for Lyric Opera of Kansas City & No Divide KC, writing an operetta alongside a composer, as well as a 2024 Heartland Arts Fellow for Starlight Theatre & Heartland Arts KC, writing scenes and lyrics about restorative justice alongside seven other artists. Other client commissions include music festival Boulevardia, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, and Quixotic.

Harbur grew up around performers. His grandfather and grandmother on his dad's side were semi-professional musicians; his father played rock covers in a high school garage band and was a collegiate level cheerleader; and his mother owned and taught in her own dance studio for 25 years. Even his brother took part in choirs and musicals in high school, eventually singing bass in a collegiate a cappella group in North Carolina. Since age 5, Harbur took part in music programs. By the end of his junior year of high school artistic expressions was his addiction, with extra curricular activities including voice lessons, choir, plays, musicals, and beatboxing in a high school a cappella group.

His senior year of high school he moved to Winston-Salem, North Carolina to finish his GED at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts’ High School with an emphasis in studying Drama. He was offered scholarships for acting to SUNY at Purchase College in Purchase, New York and Webster University in St, Louis, Missouri. However he decided to get a communication-based education at Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York. He graduated in 2018 with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. Outside collegiate academics he created multimedia projects for the student newspaper, The Ithacan, fueling his interest in how videography enriches storytelling. A couple projects created with other students gained notable online popularity: Jokers, a short fan-fiction film capitalizing on the marketing of DC’s Suicide Squad, earned 10,000 video views in less than 3 weeks; the other included Driving Dirty: The Spirit of Dirt Racing, a short documentary about dirt racing in upstate New York, earned 18,000 video views in a couple months. Harbur’s strategic marketing experiments walked alongside his continued performance interests as he served as a vocal percussionist, ensemble member, and soloist for Ithacappella, the college’s all-male identifying a cappella group. Twice per year the group traveled across America’s northeastern coast for a singing tour, creating opportunities such as collaborating with the PS 22 Chorus in Staten Island, New York and singing the national anthem for NHL’s New York Rangers and the NBA’s New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

Eventually Harbur wanted to try his hand at solo performance. While traveling abroad in Spring 2017 he released his first professional song “By The Way” on YouTube, gaining over 1,000 views overnight and beginning the musicbyskippy journey. After graduating from college and moving near home to Kansas City, Missouri in 2019, he found an audience through family, friends, late night clubs, theater goers, and arts-centered organizations. From 2019 to November 2021, he produced digital and print communications for the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. After working there for almost three years (2 years and 10 months, but who’s counting?), he left to pursue freelance performance and production for one year. Today through learned, experience-based successes and failures he continues this freelance journey thanks to support from family, friends, and countless new and long-time collaborators.

Here’s the breakdown of his music and release show history: On February 18, 2022, he published his 12-song debut album, my dying wish. The release show was co-produced and hosted by multimedia arts company Quixotic, selling around 120 tickets over 2 showings. In between music releases he produced Ope! A Play & Cabaret, a dinner theater experience with three dear friends, selling 92 tickets over 4 showings. His second album, we press play, was published on June 17, 2022. The release show was hosted by Kansas City’s music venue recordBar, selling 76 tickets for 1 showing and featured dancers, drag performers, and even a Charlie Chaplin impersonator. His first EP, you can sing, was self-published on November 20, 2022. The release show was hosted by Kansas City’s music venue Westport Coffeehouse, selling 57 tickets for 1 showing. His second EP, These Songs Are Emotions, was self-published on April 23, 2023. The release show was hosted by Kansas City’s theater The Ruby Room at Music Theater Heritage, selling 89 tickets over 2 showings. His third EP, Poems, was self-published on October 20, 2023. The release show was hosted by Kansas City’s venue Westport Coffeehouse Theater, selling 85 tickets for 1 showing. As shows continue development and growth in what’s featured in a given program, they culminate to an annual show schedule, similar to how theater companies curate a season of shows. This creates different live experiences for musicbyskippy supporters to choose from depending on their storytelling preferences.

Each opportunity to perform is rooted in a deeper story. At 5 months he was diagnosed with biliary atresia, a rare liver disease. 6 months later he received a life-saving liver transplant from an 8-year-old boy named Aaron Drake, who passed away while on a camping trip at The Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri. But through tragedy came hope, giving Harbur a second chance to inspire others with his experimental and authentic approach to entertainment. Through his growing discography and show schedule, he wants you to find music and a live experience that you love.